Nisreen Ghazal did not give up. She decided to draw her own chart of success. She obtained her first university degree and was creative in the field of small business; where civil society institutions function. She dreamed of having her own project which makes her in no need to be dependent on institutions and satisfies her passion for creativity.
Ghazal from the northern West Bank city of Nablus received her law degree before joining civil society organizations in the West Bank. She remained determined to work outside the umbrella of these institutions and to devote herself for the sake of her own project which satisfies her aspirations allowing her to practice her hobby and skill in preparing meals.
This passion has begun to increase nearly ten years ago as she told the PIC reporter where she considered it back then a big dream and an imagination that only could become true if she remains determined to achieve this ambition.
The starting point
Ghazal decided to join a special food competition organized by a Palestinian satellite channel known as ‘Chef of Palestine’ thus experiencing a new phase of preparing food dishes. She got the second ranking increasing her conviction that the dream of establishing her own project must be stronger than ever.
The circumstances surrounding her and the weakness of the possibilities and the absence of a real vision of her own project made it impossible for her to realize this dream thus living an internal conflict with herself and repeatedly asking herself: How and when and where to start? Will I succeed or fail?
“I stayed like this for a while” says Ghazal adding: “I took a step forward then another step back even steps until I finally decided to make up my mind and overcome my fear. I stayed for hours thinking of the beginning to end a period of procrastination and hesitation.”
Ghazal saw in social networking sites a refuge for her long-delayed dream. She created a Facebook page called ‘Tabbouleh’ and invited some friends and acquaintances to follow her. She started promoting some of the dishes she prepares at the request of some of her close friends who knew of her creativity in preparing food.
Ghazal found that Tabbouleh received attention and that many of her friends followed her in addition to others. She received a lot of interactions and questions and the demand for the dishes she promotes increased and her dream began to come true slowly.
Mature idea
At the beginning the idea of ‘Tabbouleh’ was not materially feasible because Ghazal lacked the ability to estimate quantities compared with costs. There were almost no profits at first but it took her only a few weeks to learn better thus starting to draw her own success. Her home kitchen became a base for her own dream where she spends most of the day engaged with satisfying the wishes and demands of her followers and customers who liked what she does by following what she posts on social networking sites.
Speaking of the passion for food dishes and experience Ghazal said: “It was the reason why I was prompted to go through this experience and leave my work to devote my full-time for this project in addition to my constant feeling of the need for independent and pioneering work.”
The arrest of her husband Malik Abdo had left an impact on continuing her ambition: “The project was in place before my husband was arrested. We were partners in business profit and loss. Initially it was not a daily work but rather I would wait for recommendations and requests from customers” she said.
“The fact is that I did not suffer from unemployment. I left my job by myself. During the period of my husband’s arrest the family responsibilities increased and my project was the main supporter of the house.”
Job opportunities
The value of the Tabbouleh project has not only benefited Ghazal but it has also provided jobs for other women. “My simple project has helped women to work; sometimes I need help to work in a kitchen that is purely feminine without delivering orders to customers ourselves as customers usually send people to take their orders or we deliver them using public transport means.”
Using a positive language full of willingness and challenge Ghazal concluded by saying: “We have been created on earth with a tremendous amount of energy because we are destined to live on it and our livelihood is there but we need to seek our livelihood sometimes and cling to our dreams even if we are ridiculed and criticized. My message to all males and females you dream of a goal do not wait for someone to achieve it for you make success a concrete fact using your own hands.”
